Are you beautiful?

A study by the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty found that a shocking 2% of women from 10 countries around the world would answer “yes.”

Dove’s philosophy is that advertising campaigns by the beauty industry are damaging women’s opinions of themselves, and hope to combat this by featuring average women on their ads instead of supermodels. They also focus on improving young girls’ opinions of themselves, hoping to improve their self esteem early in their development. (Check out their self-esteem “tool gallery.”)

Dove’s isn’t the only voice speaking out against retouched photos, unhealthy diets and poor body image. Even supermodel Filippa Hamilton recently spoke out about an unrealistically altered photo released by Ralph Lauren. She expressed concern in interviews that Ralph Lauren sent a dangerous message to women by altering her body to look unnaturally thin.

Unfortunately, not everyone is encouraging us to be satisfied with our natural appearances. This year, LifeTouch Photography offered “premium retouching” for school portraits. For an extra $12, students can have whiter teeth, neater hair, fewer blemishes and a more even skin tone in the yearbook. Instead of “love yourself,” LifeTouch is sending a message that students should hide how they naturally look if they are unhappy with themselves.

Are you proud of the way you look? What do you think of Dove’s campaign? Is it fair that LifeTouch is altering yearbook photos? Discuss!